Ngmoco co-founders Neil Young, Bob Stevenson depart

Ngmoco co-founders Neil Young and Bob Stevenson have stepped down from the company, leaving their positions as CEO and CCO. Ngmoco parent company DeNA appointed former head of studios, Clive Downie as CEO to replace the outgoing Young.

According to today’s announcement, Young and Stevenson are moving on to “new adventures”, although Young will remain on DeNA’s board of directors.

DeNA acquired Ngmoco just over two years ago for $403 million — a deal that still stands as one of the biggest mobile gaming acquisitions. At the time, Ngmoco was one of the leaders in the mobile gaming space, having hit early success with titles like We Rule and Touch Pets. And while the purchase saw Ngmoco’s own game development efforts largely sidelined (the company has only released a handful of first-party titles since 2010), the past two years have seen the slow, but successful launch of DeNA’s Mobage gaming platform in the west.